Hello and welcome to the Long Player blog- that seems like a good place to start.
Here, I will be reviewing every album that has topped the British album chart from its inception in 1956 until…. well, until I either get sick of writing this or I die, whichever comes first.
Long Player is inspired by two things: first of all, the masterful work of Tom Ewing, whose Popular blog over at Freaky Trigger has been reviewing every UK number one single for god knows how long, and I know I’ve been reading for at least a decade. He started in 1952 and has managed to get to 2005- slap bang in the middle of my Radio 1 years. He writes beautifully and even if I disagree with most of his scores, he justifies them so well that it’s hard to argue. You can check out the archive HERE.
Thank you Tom.
Secondly, this blog has come out of an attempt to start a podcast in 2019 with my friend Jo—middle class white people starting a podcast, just what the world was waiting for. It became very apparent that I had underestimated just how much time it would take up and the technical difficulties of such an endeavour. We enjoyed the chat, but my own lack of skills meant it sounded pretty horrible and, in the words of Dr Ian Malcolm, life, er, found a way and quickly made finding time for editing next to impossible. The written word sees me on (slightly) surer ground so, five years later, here we are.
So why albums? Now is a good time as the format is in the ascendency once again. Physical sales aren’t going to get back to pre-Spotify levels any time soon, but pop fans see a lot more willing to put the time into devouring an album from start to finish more than ever in the last decade. The recent buzz around new LPs from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé (double albums!) and The Last Dinner Party, among others, have lit up fanbases and social media in conversation that is often exciting and, as is the way these days, occasionally bad tempered.
Of course, a wander through the number ones on the album charts can’t cover everything- there is no accounting for taste, after all. As it stands, the likes of The Velvet Underground, De La Soul, The Kinks, Nine Inch Nails, The Beach Boys and Tupac Shakur do not feature, for example. But it does broadly explain what is popular within wider culture at any time and not just the rarified High Fidelity types. Where singles until the start of the 21st century were a good indication of what “the kids” were listening to, the sheer expense of LPs and CDs at times mean we get a record of what older types with disposable incomes are listening to at any time—Mr Blobby, Crazy Frog and Jive Bunny will not be found within these web pages.
Yet.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy tagging along for the journey and without any further ado, let’s dive in.
- Andrew Galvin, May 2024
The 1950s
Something astonishing about the earliest days of the UK album chart: it came in at exactly the right moment. 1956 is the exact year where one movement gives way to another. It starts with standards, big band and swing, and ends with the arrival of rock n roll.
When we’re not wading through endless movie musical soundtracks by Richard Rogers, two artists dominate these earliest years: Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
By this point, Ol’ Blue Eyes was deep into his second era as the biggest music star on the planet and indeed, claiming the inaugural number one spot, it would have been difficult to predict the sea change coming from the charts alone. We sadly miss out on his truly classic albums- birthing the idea of the “concept album” with 1954’s Songs for Young Lovers and 1955’s In the Wee Small Hours—but what we do have through the 50s are reliably Frank: well-chosen songs to suit his voice, packed with verve and energy from those Nelson Riddle arrangements.
But if you want REAL energy, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Within a year Sinatra and a sexy young hip-swiveller from Mississippi pass like decadent cruise ships in the night as Elvis takes over. Sinatra would still have several number one records after 1956, but his position at the top becomes wobblier than an elephant doing a tap dance on a three-legged table.
Between these artists and the aforementioned glut of musicals, there are very few other artists who find their way to the top in this decade. Tommy Steele’s time as the British Elvis passes in the blink of an eye, with all that remains these days is name recognition rather than his cheap n cheerful plastic rock. And, er, that’s pretty much it. It really isn’t until the early 60s that the weird stuff really finds its way in. And that’s when it gets interesting…
In these early days, we’ll see a lot of the same artists popping up in what can sometimes feel like a waiting room for the Beatles and the Stones to make their appearance. However, although the LP was still very much a novelty rather than an artistic statement in the 1950s, there is some fantastic music buried in the grooves that’s worth revisiting.
Exciting!!! This will be great :)